Page 15

Mila

After Gio walked her out to the van for her things, he showed her to a room on the first floor.

He apologized profusely for how small it was, but it was much larger than the back of her van and there was a bathroom right next door.

Compared to how she’d been living for the last few weeks, it was luxurious!

He’d also apologized for leaving her alone but of course he wasn't going to hang out with her when Carter was upstairs. She wished she could join him, but he didn’t invite her, and she didn’t feel like she could ask.

It made her a little sad that Babette had abandoned her for Carter. She really was the sweetest dog!

With nothing else to do, she took a long hot shower. All her clothes were filthy, so instead of pulling on a dirty outfit, she pulled on the robe that had been hanging on the back of the bathroom door. It was big on her and smelled like Carter. It was comforting.

Settling on the bed, she stared at her fully charged phone. She was out of excuses to ignore all the messages or missed calls.

Predictably, most of the texts were from her parents demanding updates. The last few were frantic, and she had five missed calls today.

As if summoned by her thoughts, the phone started ringing, and her mother’s face appeared.

Giving up, Mila answered with the most cheerful voice she could summon.

“Hi Mom! Isn’t it late for you?”

“Mila!” Barb shouted. “I’ve been calling for days!”

Mila rolled her eyes and wished Babette was here to snuggle. She could use the emotional support. “Don’t exaggerate. We talked yesterday.”

“That was five days ago,” Barb retorted sharply. “And I’ve been trying to get a hold of you all day. My next call was going to be to the police. I told you California was too dangerous. I’m going to buy you a plane ticket home.”

“Mom, I’m perfectly fine,” Mila said, deciding to keep all the strangeness of the evening to herself. Everything that had happened in the last few hours made her living in the van seem mundane now. Not that she was going to tell her mother about that either!

“You’re not fine,” Barb responded. “If you were fine, you would’ve answered me sooner.”

“I’ve been busy,” Mila said.

“Busy doing what?” Barb sounded suspicious. “What could you possibly be doing this late at night?”

“First of all, it’s not that late here,” Mila reminded her. “And second, I was interviewing for a job.” That wasn’t completely a lie.

“Still only interviewing?” her mother questioned. “Oh Mila, just give up already and come home. I’m sure you can get your job back at the North End Bakery.”

The part-time job that allowed her plenty of time to take care of her parents’ house and nieces and nephews? No thank you!

“I have a job,” Mila said before her mom could go on about how much better it would be for her at the North End Bakery.

There was a brief silence before her mother spoke.

“You do?”

The level of surprise in her voice was disheartening.

“Yes Mom, I do,” Mila said wryly. “Don’t sound so happy for me.”

“No honey, I didn’t mean to sound like that,” Barb said quickly. “I was only hoping you were ready to come back to Tea. We miss you. Little Anna keeps asking where her favorite auntie is.”

Guilt slammed into Mila hard enough to take her breath away. This was why she’d avoided her mom for the last few days. If she’d heard this before now, she would’ve caved and been right back where she started.

“Tell Anna I’ll be back to visit,” Mila said. “Until then, we can video chat. I’ll text Anthony to set up a time.”

“Things like calls and texts aren’t good enough for a disappointed little girl,” Barb said, disapproval dripping from her voice. “You’re breaking Anna’s soft little heart.”

It was hard, but Mila kept her voice steady and the tears at bay. “I’ll talk to Anthony,” Mila repeated.

“Don’t take that tone with me,” Barb sniffed.

“There wasn’t a tone,” Mila said. “It’s late, Mom, and I’ve got to start work early tomorrow. I should go.”

“I suppose,” Barb said. “I’m sure this job won’t last. Call me when you’re ready for that ticket. Don’t wait so long to answer when I call next time. Your father was getting ready to travel all the way to San Diego to look for you.”

“Only because it’s not calving season,” Mila muttered. The moment the words were out of her mouth, she regretted it.

Barb sucked in a sharp breath. “Is that what this is all about? You’re punishing us?”

“No Mom, I didn’t mean—”

“We were good parents,” Barb continued as if Mila hadn’t spoken. “We gave you everything. Food, shelter, and an education. We would’ve sent you to college if you wanted. It was your choice to stay at home. You’re the one who didn’t want to leave, we didn’t force you to do anything.”

“You didn’t encourage me either,” Mila said, shocked when those words came out.

“You kept telling me college would be there next year, after Anthony finished high school. Then when he finished you said I could go, but it would be really hard on Vivienne if I left before she transitioned from middle school to high school. I was only able to learn baking and decorating from Sally because she was so flexible with my work schedule.”

There was a moment of silence, and Mila thought for a brief second she might’ve won a disagreement with her mother.

“I’d never do that,” Barb denied. “I’d never block one of my children from seeking higher education! How dare you accuse me of being so manipulative!”

Mila sighed. “Of course you didn't. I'm sorry I said anything.”

“You’re not really sorry,” Barb accused. “You’re only saying that because you think that’s what I want to hear. I won’t have you going around spreading lies about me.”

“I’d never say anything about you to anyone here in San Diego,” Mila said, suddenly seeing the humor in the situation.

“I should hope not!” Barb agreed. “I don’t want any of that nonsense getting repeated back here.”

Mila stifled a snort. “Goodnight Mom.”

“Fine, we’ll talk tomorrow,” Barb said.

Before she could demand anything else, Mila ended the call.

“No we won’t!” she said to the phone.

The thing rang, making her startle and almost drop it. She half expected it to be her mom again, but it was her brother Anthony. Even though she didn’t want to talk to him either, she felt guilty about Anna, so she answered the call.

“Hi, Anthony, I was—”

Anthony cut her off. “Mila, don’t let Mom talk you into coming home!”

Mila wasn’t prepared for his vehemence. “What?”

“Don’t let Mom talk you into coming home,” he repeated. “She’s going to try to use Anna to guilt you into coming back to Tea, but don’t let her. Anna is perfectly fine. I mean, we all miss you, but Anna’s not going to have a mental breakdown because you’re not here.”

“That was the conversation I had with Mom before you called. When did you become psychic?” Mila teased.

Anthony chuckled, but it sounded forced. “I don’t need to be for this. I know her game plan even if you and Dawn like to pretend she isn’t manipulative as hell.”

Mila got a bad feeling. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing that doesn’t happen to every family,” Anthony answered evasively.

“Anthony, tell me,” Mila pressed.

Anthony sighed. “Dad got the flu. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t super bad either. Except he went back to work even though he wasn’t fully better. I think you know what happened from there.”

She did. Her father had a pattern. He pushed his body beyond endurance until he ended up in the hospital. When he was in the hospital, he pushed the healthcare workers beyond endurance until they were ready to discharge him the first moment they could.

Once he was out of the hospital, it was always up to her to nurse him back to health. She cooked his meals, waited on him, oversaw his medication, and put up with his bad temper and general non-compliance.

There was one time she had to hide all the keys to the vehicles so he wouldn’t try to leave, even though getting from his bedroom to the front door left him pale and shaking.

That time had been the worst! Barb had decided to attend a conference in Las Vegas, leaving Mila with full responsibility for dad’s health.

At the time, Mila felt honored her mother trusted her so much. She’d been an idiot.

“How bad is he?” Mila asked, guilt and relief warring inside her. No one wanted to hear that their father was ill, but she was so glad to be over 1,500 miles away!

“He’s still in the hospital,” Anthony said. “He’ll probably be discharged tomorrow, and Mom is desperate not to have to take care of him.”

“No doubt,” Mila said with a laugh, then tension made her gut tighten. “Maybe I should come back, just until he’s better.”

“No!” Anthony yelled into the phone.

“Don’t be shy, tell me how you really feel,” Mila said, relief making her relax a little.

“I mean it, Millie-billie,” Anthony said, pulling out her old nickname.

“You’d been unhappy for a long time, and I never realized it.

It wasn’t until I saw how you were smiling the day you left that I knew you’d been miserable up until then.

Brad convincing you to leave was the best thing to happen, even if you guys broke up. ”

She winced because she’d glossed over breaking up with Brad and all the horrible things he’d done.

“It’s been an adventure,” she admitted, silently adding both good and bad .

“You deserve this adventure,” Anthony said. “Without you, I don’t think Jen and I would’ve gotten through the first two years of our marriage.”

Mila scoffed. “You’re exaggerating.”

“I’m not,” Anthony said. “Jen was paranoid, and you were the only person she trusted to watch Anna. And you never said no. You should’ve, but you didn’t.

Without you, we never would’ve gotten any sleep those first few months.

Without you, Jen couldn’t have finished her nursing degree because she wouldn’t let us put Anna in any kind of childcare.

Without you, we couldn’t have taken that honeymoon last year that we put off because Jen was pregnant when we got married. ”